Today, St. Louis stands at the cusp of real and, dare we say, permanent change for the better. The catalyst is the decision by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to build a gigantic new western headquarters precisely at the intersection of Jefferson and Cass. The project will cost $1.75 billion and is expected to provide jobs for nearly 15,000 construction workers. Contractual terms require that one-quarter of those jobs be filled by workers from the immediate surrounding communities.

Last week, developer Paul McKee sat with us to outline the next major step stemming from NGA’s decision. His NorthSide Regeneration company, the top private landholder in the area, is teaming with Washington-based residential developer Telesis Corp. and CRG Real Estate Solutions to construct 500 new housing units over the next five years adjacent to the NGA site.

Their goal is to build 3,000 market-rate residential units on NorthSide Regeneration’s property, with the AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust on track to provide financing.

The combination of two such announcements would be worthy of fireworks displays in just about any American city. But it’s particularly worth celebrating in St. Louis, which seems to have been constantly pummeled by bad news in recent years — dismal employment growth, population decline, corporate departures and the loss of its NFL franchise.